How come a fit man can have six-pack abs but a fit woman doesn't seem to? Are the abdominal muscles of men and women different?

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Abs, shmabs. Like William "Smokey" Robinson and Bobby Rogers, the Miracles who wrote the timeless ditty "First I Look at the Purse," Answer Fella asks, "Why waste time looking at the waistline?"

But let us assume, strictly for discussion's sake, that a woman's appearance matters somehow. And let us say that the woman we're discussing is Iris Kyle, who is perhaps the world's foremost female bodybuilder--she currently wears the IFBB's Ms. International 2011 crown — and upon whose shredded abs a man, should he so dare, might grate a round of Sbrinz.

"Which women are you guys looking at?" Iris asked when AF phoned her to relay your question. "A lot of women have abs. Your ab area is based on ge-netics and dietary habits. So it varies."

Yes, ma'am. But AF spoke with Stephen Alway, professor and chair of exercise physiology at West Virginia University, and he said that "to see that six-pack structure you have to have low abdominal fat. Typically, males have [less] abdominal fat than females [because] that's where estrogen likes to deposit fat, and men have less estrogen."

"Yes, we have a higher estrogen level," Iris replied. "Overall, I think a woman has to work harder because of our estrogen level. [But] some women have higher testosterone levels based on genetic makeup — it can be either way."

AF wished to delve ever so much more deeply into this issue, but just then Mrs. Fella hollered, "Who the hell are you talking to?" as she strode into the room, whereupon AF said, "No, thank you, we already own a panini press," and hung up.